AsianScientist (Jun. 3, 2016) – Parents in Northern India favor boys over girls when it comes to making sure that their children’s heart problems are corrected.
A research published in the online journal Heart Asia revealed that the gender bias is apparent for children of all ages, and for parents living in both rural and urban communities. The bias illustrates deep-rooted attitudes towards the societal value of girls, given that financial imperatives are often cited for gender inequalities in India.
The researchers based their findings on 519 children with an inborn heart defect or rheumatic heart disease who were referred between 2009 and 2014 to a specialist cardiac center in Northern India. The center provided treatment completely free of charge under a government-funded scheme.
Over the entire period, most of the referrals were for boys. On average, just over a third of the referrals were for girls. A similar pattern was evident for each of the years under study.
Yet the reported prevalence of coronary heart disease in India is between two to five in every 1000 live births, with an almost equal gender ratio.
“Given the almost equal gender prevalence, it is alarming that relatively fewer girls are brought to the tertiary centers and even fewer are having the required corrective procedures done,” said the researchers.
Their findings prompted the authors to describe in their paper the current differences in access as a “social evil.”
“The deep-rooted social issues (beyond just the economic causes) need to be addressed by medical professionals as well as policy makers to ensure equal [access to] healthcare for both genders,” the researchers said.
The article can be found at: Chhabra et al. (2016) Gender bias in cardiovascular healthcare of a tertiary care center of North India.
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Source: Dayanand Medical College & Hospital; Photo: Pexels.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
